Boot or shoe and process of making



Jan. 8 1924.

G. T. M LEOD BOOT OR SHOE AND PROCESS OF MAKING Filed Jan. 11, 1925 Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

UNIT D STATES PATENT o nca.

GEORGE '1. IOLEOD, OF- BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS G. PLANT COMPANY, 01' BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

BOOT OB SHOE AND PROCESS OF MAKING.

To all wlwm it may concern:

Be it known that I Gnome T. MoLnon, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, in the count of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, ave invented an Improvement in Boots or Shoes and Processes of Making, of which the following description, in connection.with the. accompanying drawin s, is a specification, l ke letters on the rawings representing like parts.

In my present invention I have devised a novel and extremely flexible method of making boots or shoes, following substantiall the McKay or through-and-through stitc ing method of uniting insole, outsole,

, and upper, while having a portion of the of extremely flexible or so-cal ed released shoe at the shank free or released from such stitching througbli the insole, and hence producing a flexible cKay shoe.

It is important to make certain grades of footwear so that they will possess great flexibility, but the McKa shoe and methods of manufacture ten s, ordinarily, to produce a rigid or stiff and non-flexible shoe. Heretofore various efforts have been made to provide flexibility, particularly the shank portion, but these prior methods have necessitated the making of the shoe by means of difficult operations involving skilled hand work, and special machines. My present invention aims to produce an extremely flexible shoe by the simple and inexpensive McKay process, and by utilizing a novel construction and method of McKay shoe manufacture which will follow substantially all the present day operations utilizing standard machines, and the present labor rates on piece work, and the like. This advantage is of considerable importance, as it is ossible to make the shoe herein illustrate without disorganizing present shoe factory methods, and yet to produce an efficient, extremely flexi le shoe by the well-known and economical McKay shoe methods.

In the rior U. S patents of W. J. Mac- Farland 0. 1,101,747 and 1,101,748, and in the atent application of George T. Mc- Leod, er. No. 404,314, an im ortant type shank shoe construction, is shown as applied to welt footwear and the resent invention aims to provide for Mo ay, footwear and equally desirable, advantageous Application Med January 11, 1928. Serial No. 611,943.

and flexible shoe construction of the released shank type. Further advantages, important features and details of construction will be hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed.

Referring to the drawings illustratin a preferred embodiment of my novel s oe made by my novel process.

Fig; 1 is a bottom plan view of the invention after the shoe is McKay lasted;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the insole on the inner or foot-contacting surface;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the shalnk portion, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; an

Fig. 4 is a similar cross-sectional view of the completed shoe,

In carrying out the present process, I form the insole 1 with a reduced or cutaway portion along the shank on the inside of the arch, viz., on the right edge of the left shoe and correspondingly on the left side of the right shoe, this cut-away portion being substantially as indicated in ig. 2 from adjacent the heel 2 up to the forepart at 3 in order to clear the through and through stitching 5, thus giving a curved part or edge 4 of the insole which will be entirely free of the through and throu h stitching, as best shown in Figs.

2 an 4. The-insole 1 is then applied to the last bottom and the uppper materials 6 assembled on the last, and the shoe is lasted in the usual McKay shoe construction, the lasting tacks 7 being driven in and clinched on the iron bottom of the last 10,'Fig. 1. These lasting tacks, however, are omitted from the edge of the heel breast to the adjacent ball or part of the forepart, sub-' stantially on the points where the insole is cut away from 2 around the curve 4 to the point 3 as shown in Fig. 1. The up er along this portion may be, and preferably is, first stitched to a wide strip or sheet of material 12 b stitching 13, before the upper is assemb ed on the last, althou h it is possible to stitch this piece 13 a er the upper is first assembled, if desired. This strip or member 12 is of suitable width to extend across the last and also has a projecting marginal portion 15 extending beyond the attaching stitching 13. The strip 12 is then pulled over, by hand or otherwise, and attached by lasting tacks to the opposite edge of the shoe, as indicated in Fig. 1 at 21, 21. These lasting tacks 21 can be driven through into the inmle and clinched therein also, although I prefer to use short tacks which may be buried in the thickness of the upper materials and theinsole, this being for temporary use only, the through and through stitchin afterwards catching this edge portion of t e strip 12.

With the shoe thus lasted, and the insole from approximately the heel portion at 2 up to the forepart 3 on the inside or shank part free of lasting tacks and thus released from both the upper and the insole, this part of the insole will be free to bend or flex during the subsequent use of the shoe. With the shoe thus made, I then apply the outsole, put same through the levelling or sole-laying process, and then withdraw the last and insert the McKa or through and through stitching 5. T e shoe thus completed has its shank portion entirely free from the insole, along the inner or arch side as above noted, and with the upper fitting snugly'around this part of the arch and permanently attached to the outsole throu h the free or released insole portion and a so permanently attached through the strip 12 to the insole and outsole along the opposite edge portion. Thus an extremely flexible shoe construction is provided in an otherwise McKay shoe structure, and by means of adding the strip or extension 12. This member 12 may be of leather, canvas or other suitable textile material if desired, or of course could be an extension of the upper materials themselves, but the preferred method of attaching same is as described above. With the outsole applied the outer edge 15 of this strip can be cemented and trimmed with the trimming of the outsole, or it can be cut closely to the attaching seam 13. I believe that my method of thus manufacturing a released shank shoe of the McKay type and by McKay shoe meth ods, as well as the resulting flexible shoe structure produced thereby 1s a novelt in the art and thereforeI wish to claim 0th the rocess and the resulting shoe broadly. y invention is further described and defined in the form of claims as follows:

1. The improved method of making a boot or shoe,.which consists in providingan insole with a narrowed portion along the inner shank part, assembling the insole thus prepared and an upper on a last, said upper having an extension to the upper materials from the shank portion adjacent the narrowed insole and adapted to extend to'the opposite edge portion of the insole at the shank, lasting the upper, and securing the lasted upper to the insole, excepting at the narrowed insole shank portion, lasting and securing the extension to the upper on the opposite edge of said narrowed shank portion, applying an outsole and uniting the insole, outsole and upper materials by.

to form the insole of less width than the line of McKay stitching to be inserted in the shoe, providing the upper with means to hold the inside arch portion extending across the insole and attached to the edge of the insole opposite the cut away portion of the insole, lasting the shoe, applying the outsole, and securing the insole, upper materials and outsole by through and through stitching, said stitching running off the insole from the forepart to the heel breast along said cut away edge, and uniting only the upper materials to the outsole.

3. An improved boot or shoe, havingan insole with the edge adjacent the inner arch portion of the shank narrowed, the upper materials at the corresponding shank portion having an extension adapted to secure this part of the upper to the opposite edge of the insole, said upper and insole being attached excepting at the'narrowed insole portion, and the upper, insole and outsole being secured by through and through stitching, excepting at saidnarrowed insole portion.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGET. McLEOD. 

